The DOI matches its Crossref record.
A Ladder Of Citizen Participation
Abstract
The heated controversy over “citizen participation,” “citizen control”, and “maximum feasible involvement of the poor,” has been waged largely in terms of exacerbated rhetoric and misleading euphemisms. To encourage a more enlightened dialogue, a typology of citizen participation is offered using examples from three federal social programs: urban renewal, anti-poverty, and Model Cities. The typology, which is designed to be provocative, is arranged in a ladder pattern with each rung corresponding to the extent of citizens' power in determining the plan and/or program.
Overview
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the citing paper
“Her typology clearly demonstrated that not all participation is of equal value and that, at the time of her original authorship, tokenism dominated as the method through which the majority of citizens most likely participated in the policy process.”
From The Value of a Communitarian Approach to Public Library Board Governance: Rejecting Current Neoliberal Practice / La valeur d’une approche communautariste de la gouvernance du conseil d’administration d’une bibliothèque publique : Le rejet de la pratique néolibérale actuelle (2012) · cites this paper as Arnstein (1969)
In the citing paper
“The classical example of the ladder model is Hart's Ladder of Children's Participation, 48 which was published in 1992 and based on Arnstein's Ladder of Citizen Participation first published in 1969. 87”
From A systematic review of theories, models and frameworks used for youth engagement in health research (2024) · cites this paper as [87]
In the citing paper
“The strengthening democracy rationale flows from participatory and deliberative theories that perceive democracy as a process of building civic capital and stronger democratic institutions (Arnstein, 1969; B. R. Barber, 2004; Pateman, 1970).”
From Between promise and practice: a scoping review of the democratic outcomes of youth participation in local governance (2026) · cites this paper as Arnstein, 1969
In the citing paper
“This aligns with Arnstein ' s (1969) and Hart ' s (1992) foundational work on participation ladders and extends them by highlighting how participation outcomes are shaped by context and vary across dimensions”
From Between promise and practice: a scoping review of the democratic outcomes of youth participation in local governance (2026) · cites this paper as Arnstein ' s (1969)
Citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Items 701–800 of 1,034
McEwen, L. J., Holmes, A. P., Quinn, N. W., et al. (2017) · International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction · doi:10.1016/j.ijdrr.2017.10.018 · Cited by 105
From Engagement to Co-Production: How Users and Communities Contribute to Public Services
Bovaird, T., & Löffler, E. (2013) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9780203152294-9 · Cited by 105
Gorroño-Albizu, L., Sperling, K., & Djørup, S. R. (2019) · Energy Research & Social Science · doi:10.1016/j.erss.2019.101231 · Cited by 105
Benedict, M. Q., D'Abbs, P. H., Dobson, S. L., Gottlieb, M., Harrington, L. C., Higgs, S., James, A. A., James, S. L., Knols, B. G., Lavery, J., et al. (2008) · Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases · doi:10.1089/vbz.2007.0273 · Cited by 104
Can policy perception influence social resilience to policy change?
Marshall, N. (2007) · Fisheries Research · doi:10.1016/j.fishres.2007.06.008 · Cited by 105
Dealing with uncertainty: adaptive approaches to sustainable river management
Clark, M. (2002) · Aquatic Conservation Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems · doi:10.1002/aqc.531 · Cited by 105
Steelman, T. A., & Ascher, W. L. (1997) · Policy Sciences · doi:10.1023/a:1004246421974 · Cited by 105
Good Governance: Concept and Context
Addink, H. (2019) · doi:10.1093/oso/9780198841159.001.0001 · Cited by 105
Narrative policy analysis and the integration of public involvement in decision making
Hampton, G. (2009) · Policy Sciences · doi:10.1007/s11077-009-9087-1 · Cited by 104
Designing a Participatory Process for Stakeholder Involvement in a Societal Decision
Bayley, C. L., & French, S. (2007) · Group Decision and Negotiation · doi:10.1007/s10726-007-9076-8 · Cited by 105
Are we talking the walk of community-based research?
Stoecker, R. (2009) · Action Research · doi:10.1177/1476750309340944 · Cited by 104
Community participation for rural health: a review of challenges
Kenny, A. J., Farmer, J., Dickson‐Swift, V., & Hyett, N. (2014) · Health Expectations · doi:10.1111/hex.12314 · Cited by 107
Skelcher, C., & Torfing, J. (2010) · Regulation & Governance · doi:10.1111/j.1748-5991.2010.01072.x · Cited by 104
A framework of attitudes towards technology in theory and practice
Kerschner, C., & Ehlers, M. (2016) · Ecological Economics · doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2016.02.010 · Cited by 103
Moayerian, N., McGehee, N. G., & Stephenson, M. O., Jr. (2022) · Annals of Tourism Research · doi:10.1016/j.annals.2022.103355 · Cited by 140
Singh, D. R., Sah, R. K., Simkhada, B., & Darwin, Z. J. (2023) · Global Health Research and Policy · doi:10.1186/s41256-023-00290-6 · Cited by 125
A theoretical basis for participatory planning
Smith, R. W. (1973) · Policy Sciences · doi:10.1007/bf01435125 · Cited by 104
Public participation in regional health policy: a theoretical framework
Thurston, W. E., MacKean, G., Vollman, A. R., Casebeer, A. L., Weber, M., Maloff, B., & Bader, J. (2004) · Health Policy · doi:10.1016/j.healthpol.2004.11.013 · Cited by 102
Grengs, J. (2002) · Journal of the American Planning Association · doi:10.1080/01944360208976263 · Cited by 104
‘The country(side) is angry’: emotion and explanation in protest mobilization
Woods, M., Anderson, J., Guilbert, S., & Watkin, S. (2012) · Social & Cultural Geography · doi:10.1080/14649365.2012.704643 · Cited by 103
Gender and empowerment: assessing discrepancies using the resident empowerment through tourism scale
Boley, B. B., Yeager, E. P., Maruyama, N. U., & Woosnam, K. M. (2016) · Journal of Sustainable Tourism · doi:10.1080/09669582.2016.1177065 · Cited by 105
Billger, M., Thuvander, L., & Wästberg, B. S. (2016) · Environment and Planning B Urban Analytics and City Science · doi:10.1177/0265813516657341 · Cited by 103
Abildgaard, J. S., Hasson, H., Schwarz, U. V. T., Løvseth, L. T., Ala-Laurinaho, A., & Nielsen, K. M. (2018) · Economic and Industrial Democracy · doi:10.1177/0143831x17743576 · Cited by 112
Igalla, M., Edelenbos, J., & van Meerkerk, I. (2019) · VOLUNTAS International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations · doi:10.1007/s11266-019-00129-0 · Cited by 102
Citizen science breathes new life into participatory agricultural research. A review
van de Gevel, J., van Etten, J., & Deterding, S. (2020) · Agronomy for Sustainable Development · doi:10.1007/s13593-020-00636-1 · Cited by 104
Citizen participation in the smart city: findings from an international comparative study
Przeybilovicz, É., Cunha, M. A., Geertman, S. C. M., Leleux, C., Michels, A., Tomor, Z., Webster, C. W. R., & Meijer, A. J. (2020) · Local Government Studies · doi:10.1080/03003930.2020.1851204 · Cited by 103
Eaton, W. M., Brasier, K. J., Burbach, M. E., Whitmer, W., Engle, E. W., Burnham, M., Quimby, B., Chaudhary, A. K., Whitley, H., Delozier, J., et al. (2021) · Society & Natural Resources · doi:10.1080/08941920.2021.1936717 · Cited by 113
Meyer, K., Esch, D., & Rabadjieva, M. (2021) · Raumforschung und Raumordnung / Spatial Research and Planning · doi:10.14512/rur.38 · Cited by 103
Foster, S., Leichenko, R., Nguyen, K. H., Blake, R., Kunreuther, H., Madajewicz, M., Petkova, E. P., Zimmerman, R., Corbin‐Mark, C., Yeampierre, E., et al. (2019) · Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1111/nyas.14009 · Cited by 102
Participation of youth in decision‐making procedures during residential care: A narrative review
ten Brummelaar, M., Harder, A. T., Kalverboer, M., Post, W. J., & Knorth, E. J. (2017) · Child & Family Social Work · doi:10.1111/cfs.12381 · Cited by 122
Dlouhá, J., & Pospíšilová, M. (2017) · Journal of Cleaner Production · doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.06.145 · Cited by 102
Mathie, E., Wythe, H., Munday, D., Millac, P. A. H., Rhodes, G., Roberts, N., Smeeton, N., Poland, F. M., & Jones, J. (2018) · Health Expectations · doi:10.1111/hex.12684 · Cited by 110
Igalla, M., Edelenbos, J., & van Meerkerk, I. (2019) · Public Management Review · doi:10.1080/14719037.2019.1604796 · Cited by 131
Gobster, P. H., Ribe, R. G., & Palmer, J. F. (2019) · Landscape and Urban Planning · doi:10.1016/j.landurbplan.2019.103635 · Cited by 110
Type, tweet, tap, and pass: How smart city technology is creating a transactional citizen
Johnson, P. A., Robinson, P. J., & Philpot, S. L. (2019) · Government Information Quarterly · doi:10.1016/j.giq.2019.101414 · Cited by 107
Peace engineering: The contribution of blockchain systems to the e-voting process
Baudier, P., Kondrateva, G., Ammi, C., & Seulliet, É. (2020) · Technological Forecasting and Social Change · doi:10.1016/j.techfore.2020.120397 · Cited by 115
Nelson, S., Drabarek, D., Jenkins, A., Negin, J., & Abímbọ́lá, Ṣ. (2021) · BMJ Open · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2021-053320 · Cited by 134
A critical review of catchment-scale stream rehabilitation programmes
Hillman, M., & Brierley, G. (2005) · Progress in Physical Geography Earth and Environment · doi:10.1191/0309133305pp434ra · Cited by 102
Münster, S., Georgi, C., Heijne, K., Klamert, K., Noennig, J. R., Pump, M., Stelzle, B., & van der Meer, H. (2017) · Procedia Computer Science · doi:10.1016/j.procs.2017.08.102 · Cited by 101
Building back better with people centered housing recovery
Maly, E. (2017) · International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction · doi:10.1016/j.ijdrr.2017.09.005 · Cited by 101
Interdisciplinary team science and the public: Steps toward a participatory team science.
Tebes, J. K., & Thai, N. D. (2018) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037/amp0000281 · Cited by 109
Integrating Methods for Developing Sustainability Indicators to Facilitate Learning and Action
Reed, M. S., Fraser, E., Morse, S., et al. (2005) · Ecology and Society · doi:10.5751/es-01296-1001r03 · Cited by 101
Jami, A. A. N., & Walsh, P. R. (2014) · Renewable Energy · doi:10.1016/j.renene.2014.02.004 · Cited by 101
Hand, L. C., & Ching, B. D. (2011) · Administrative Theory & Praxis · doi:10.2753/atp1084-1806330303 · Cited by 112
6 The time it takes: temporalities of planning
Abram, S. A. (2014) · Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute · doi:10.1111/1467-9655.12097 · Cited by 103
O’Brien, L., Marzano, M., & White, R. M. (2013) · Science and Public Policy · doi:10.1093/scipol/scs120 · Cited by 108
Stefano, L. D. (2010) · Journal of Environmental Management · doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2010.02.014 · Cited by 100
Public engagement in the W eb 2.0 era: Social collaborative technologies in a public sector context
McNutt, K. (2014) · Canadian Public Administration · doi:10.1111/capa.12058 · Cited by 105
de Jong, M. D. T., Neulen, S., & Jansma, S. R. (2019) · Government Information Quarterly · doi:10.1016/j.giq.2019.04.003 · Cited by 100
Inclusive Practices for Neurodevelopmental Research
Fletcher‐Watson, S., Brook, K., Hallett, S., Murray, F., & Crompton, C. J. (2021) · Current Developmental Disorders Reports · doi:10.1007/s40474-021-00227-z · Cited by 114
How can local energy communities promote sustainable development in European cities?
Otamendi-Irizar, I., Grijalba, O., Arias, A., Pennese, C., & Hernández, R. (2022) · Energy Research & Social Science · doi:10.1016/j.erss.2021.102363 · Cited by 80
Connecting the Sustainable Livelihoods Approach and Tourism: A Review of the Literature
Shen, F., Hughey, K. F. D., & Simmons, D. G. (2008) · Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management · doi:10.1375/jhtm.15.1.19 · Cited by 101
Lage, J., Thema, J., Zell-Ziegler, C., et al. (2023) · Energy Research & Social Science · doi:10.1016/j.erss.2023.103254 · Cited by 100
Harshaw, H. W., & Tindall, D. B. (2005) · Journal of Leisure Research · doi:10.1080/00222216.2005.11950061 · Cited by 100
Open government and e-government
Harrison, T. M., Guerrero, S., Burke, G. B., Cook, M. E., Cresswell, A. M., Helbig, N., Hrdinová, J., & Pardo, T. A. (2011) · Annual International Conference on Digital Government Research · doi:10.1145/2037556.2037597 · Cited by 116
What is the alternative? Impact assessment tools and sustainable planning
Benson, J. F. (2003) · Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal · doi:10.3152/147154603781766185 · Cited by 100
Baggott, R. (2005) · Public Administration · doi:10.1111/j.0033-3298.2005.00461.x · Cited by 100
Uses of Public Participation Geographic Information Systems Applications in E‐Government
Ganapati, S. (2011) · Public Administration Review · doi:10.1111/j.1540-6210.2011.02226.x · Cited by 99
Whose Theory of Participation? School Governance Policy and Practice in South Africa
Lewis, S. G., & Naidoo, J. (2004) · Current Issues in Comparative Education · doi:10.52214/cice.v6i2.11381 · Cited by 100
Socio-spatial learning: A case study of community knowledge in participatory spatial planning
Natarajan, L. (2015) · Progress in Planning · doi:10.1016/j.progress.2015.06.002 · Cited by 100
Matarrita‐Cascante, D. (2010) · Annals of Tourism Research · doi:10.1016/j.annals.2010.05.004 · Cited by 109
Bednarska-Olejniczak, D., Olejniczak, J., & Svobodová, L. (2019) · Sustainability · doi:10.3390/su11020332 · Cited by 98
A framework for characterising and evaluating the effectiveness of environmental modelling
Hamilton, S. H., Fu, B., Guillaume, J. H. A., Badham, J., Elsawah, S., Gober, P. A., Hunt, R. J., Iwanaga, T., Jakeman, A. J., Ames, D. P., et al. (2019) · Environmental Modelling & Software · doi:10.1016/j.envsoft.2019.04.008 · Cited by 104
Creative (Climate) Communications
Boykoff, M. (2019) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108164047 · Cited by 107
Rethinking public participation in the smart city
Levenda, A., Keough, N., Rock, M. J., & Miller, B. A. (2020) · Canadian Geographies / Géographies canadiennes · doi:10.1111/cag.12601 · Cited by 102
Bacqué, M., & Sintomer, Y. (2011) · La Découverte eBooks · doi:10.3917/dec.bacqu.2011.01.0009 · Cited by 99
Social dreaming together: A critical exploration of participatory speculative design
Farias, P. G., Bendor, R., & van Eekelen, B. F. (2022) · Education and New Developments 2022 – Volume I · doi:10.1145/3537797.3537826 · Cited by 100
Impact assessment procedures for sustainable development: A complexity theory perspective
Nooteboom, S. G. (2007) · Environmental Impact Assessment Review · doi:10.1016/j.eiar.2007.05.006 · Cited by 99
Non-participation in digital media: toward a framework of mediated political action
Casemajor, N., Couture, S., Delfín, M., Goerzen, M., & Delfanti, A. (2015) · Media Culture & Society · doi:10.1177/0163443715584098 · Cited by 114
Resource Recovery from Waste: Restoring the Balance between Resource Scarcity and Waste Overload
Velenturf, A. P. M., & Purnell, P. (2017) · Sustainability · doi:10.3390/su9091603 · Cited by 111
Civic Crowdfunding: Participatory Communities, Entrepreneurs and the Political Economy of PlacePreprint
Davies, R. (2014) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.2434615 · Cited by 89
Urban China through the lens of neoliberalism: Is a conceptual twist enough?
Zhou, Y., Lin, G. C. S., & Zhang, J. (2018) · Urban Studies · doi:10.1177/0042098018775367 · Cited by 99
Maheshwari, B. L., Varua, M. E., Ward, J. R., et al. (2014) · Water · doi:10.3390/w6113386 · Cited by 98
Booth, A. L., & Halseth, G. R. (2011) · Land Use Policy · doi:10.1016/j.landusepol.2011.03.005 · Cited by 98
User-driven design of decision support systems for polycentric environmental resources management
Zulkafli, Z., Pérez, K., Vitolo, C., Buytaert, W., Karpouzoglou, T., Dewulf, A. R. P. J., Bièvre, B. D., Clark, J. R. A., Hannah, D. M., & Simrita, S. (2016) · Environmental Modelling & Software · doi:10.1016/j.envsoft.2016.10.012 · Cited by 103
Mak, B. K. L., Cheung, L. T. O., & Hui, D. (2017) · Sustainability · doi:10.3390/su9101695 · Cited by 98
In search of the citizen in the datafication of public administration
Broomfield, H., & Reutter, L. M. (2022) · Big Data & Society · doi:10.1177/20539517221089302 · Cited by 101
Beyond Biogeography: a Framework for Involving the Public in Planning of U.S. Marine Protected Areas
Dalton, T. M. (2005) · Conservation Biology · doi:10.1111/j.1523-1739.2005.00116.x · Cited by 98
Creating Child-Friendly Environments
Horelli, L. (1998) · Childhood · doi:10.1177/0907568298005002008 · Cited by 107
Social Capital, Sustainability and Environmental Planning
Selman, P. H. (2001) · Planning Theory & Practice · doi:10.1080/14649350122850 · Cited by 98
Continuous Institutional Innovation and the Pragmatic Conception of Democracy
Fung, A. (2012) · Polity · doi:10.1057/pol.2012.17 · Cited by 110
Acquisition of T-shaped expertise: an exploratory study
Conley, S. N., Foley, R. W., Gorman, M. E., Denham, J., & Coleman, K. (2017) · Social Epistemology · doi:10.1080/02691728.2016.1249435 · Cited by 99
Rupprecht, C. D. D. (2017) · Land · doi:10.3390/land6030059 · Cited by 98
Toward a Theoretical Understanding of Placemaking
Ellery, P. J., Ellery, J., & Borkowsky, M. (2020) · International Journal of Community Well-Being · doi:10.1007/s42413-020-00078-3 · Cited by 97
Desai, S., Misra, M., Das, A., Singh, R. J., Sehgal, M., Gram, L., Kumar, N., & Prost, A. (2020) · BMJ Global Health · doi:10.1136/bmjgh-2020-003304 · Cited by 103
Assessing Cultural Heritage Adaptive Reuse Practices: Multi-Scale Challenges and Solutions in Rijeka
Pintossi, N., Kaya, D. I., & Roders, A. P. (2021) · Sustainability · doi:10.3390/su13073603 · Cited by 97
Does public participation lead to more ambitious and transformative local climate change planning?
Cattino, M., & Reckien, D. (2021) · Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability · doi:10.1016/j.cosust.2021.08.004 · Cited by 95
Youth participation: Adultism, human rights and professional youth work
Corney, T., Cooper, T., Shier, H., & Williamson, H. (2021) · Children & Society · doi:10.1111/chso.12526 · Cited by 98
Keeping Service User Involvement in Research Honest
McLaughlin, H. (2009) · The British Journal of Social Work · doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcp064 · Cited by 97
Planning for Climate Change: Is Greater Public Participation the Key to Success?
Burton, P., & Nalau, J. (2013) · Urban Policy and Research · doi:10.1080/08111146.2013.778196 · Cited by 98
Boaz, A., Biri, D., & McKevitt, C. (2014) · Health Expectations · doi:10.1111/hex.12295 · Cited by 97
Citizens’ juries in planning research priorities: process, engagement and outcome
Gooberman‐Hill, R., Horwood, J. P., & Calnan, M. (2008) · Health Expectations · doi:10.1111/j.1369-7625.2008.00502.x · Cited by 97
Towards understanding participatory processes: Framework, application and results
Hassenforder, É., Smajgl, A., & Ward, J. R. (2015) · Journal of Environmental Management · doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2015.04.012 · Cited by 96
Gustavsson, M., Lindström, L., Jiddawi, N. S., & de la Torre‐Castro, M. (2014) · Marine Policy · doi:10.1016/j.marpol.2014.01.005 · Cited by 96
Munaretto, S., Siciliano, G., & Turvani, M. E. (2014) · Ecology and Society · doi:10.5751/es-06381-190274 · Cited by 107
Campbell, L. K., Svendsen, E. S., & Roman, L. A. (2016) · Environmental Management · doi:10.1007/s00267-016-0680-8 · Cited by 108
Talley, J. L., Schneider, J., & Lindquist, E. (2016) · Ecology and Society · doi:10.5751/es-08830-210438 · Cited by 96
Classification of Smart City Research - a Descriptive Literature Review and Future Research Agenda
Gupta, P., Chauhan, S., & Jaiswal, M. P. (2019) · Information Systems Frontiers · doi:10.1007/s10796-019-09911-3 · Cited by 99
Collaborative Governance in Tourism: Empirical Insights into a Community-Oriented Destination
Bichler, B. F., & Lösch, M. (2019) · Sustainability · doi:10.3390/su11236673 · Cited by 99
Metadata
- Authors
- Arnstein, S. R.
- Corresponding author
- Arnstein, Sherry R.
- Venue
- Journal of the American Institute of Planners
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 1969-07
- Volume
- 35
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 216-224
- ISSN
- 0002-8991 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2008251417
- Cited by
- 17,064
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1187 · 2025: 1177 · 2024: 1134 · 2023: 1123 · 2022: 1080 · 2021: 1124 · 2020: 1117 · 2019: 1065 · 2018: 817 · 2017: 750 · 2016: 728 · 2015: 691 · 2014: 681 · 2013: 618 · 2012: 569
- FWCI
- 103.71
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of the American Institute of Planners (publishedVersion)
- BIBSYS Brage (BIBSYS (Norway)) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Urban Studies › Urban Planning and Governance
- Social Sciences › Public Administration › Public Policy and Administration Research
- Social Sciences › Geography, Planning and Development › Local Governance and Planning
- Keywords
- citizen participation, citizen control, typology of participation, urban regeneration, anti-poverty policy, Model Cities program, federal social programs, poor people, citizen power, participatory planning
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review